Epic 2: Jet's Story
by edger230
Summary: "My parents had always told my little brother and me stories about tiny warriors called Leafmen that protected the forest from the dark savages known as Boggans. I would always tell them to my best friend, Corbett. I realized around age 13 that they were just fiction, until the day Cassius, Corbett and I got sucked into the world of the Leafmen." OC X OC and some MK X Nod.
1. Parents' Depart

**Sorry if the characters from the movie are at all OOC. I've only seen the movie once so I need to rely on my memory.**

My parents had always told my little brother and me stories about tiny warriors called Leafmen, who lived in a land called Moonhaven that protected the forest from the dark savages known as Boggans. We couldn't see them because they moved too fast for us and we moved very slowly compared to them. We had received the nickname "Stompers" from them. My father, Nod, told us stories of the many battles the Leafmen had been through and my mother, Mary Katherine (or M.K. as Dad called her) would tell two stories that we could never get enough of. One was about a girl from "our world" that ventured to the world of the Leafmen and helped them defeat the leader of the Boggans known as Mandrake. The other was about a Leafman that decided to live the life of a Stomper to protect the people he loved. Their stories were described so well, you would have thought they had been there themselves!

I would love the stories so much that I would always tell them to my best friend and next door neighbor, Corbett, who loved them just as much as I did. However, while my now 11 year old brother Cassius still believed their stories, I wasn't a little girl anymore and I realized around age 13 that they were just fiction. The same came for Corbett.

This is what I'd always believed, until the day Cassius, Corbett and I got sucked into the world of the Leafmen and the Boggans. My name is Jet, and this is mine, my brother's and Corbett's story.

()()()()()()()()()

It all started the last day of school, the final day before summer vacation. It was only a half day. My mother had asked me to walk Cassius to his final day of elementary school. I agreed since it was a special day for him, and he had begged me. Unlike a lot of siblings, Cassius and I rarely ever fought and we were really close. Our schools weren't that far apart anyway.

We had just walked out the door, Cassius telling me about the dream he had the previous night about our whole family becoming Leafmen, when Corbett walked out slowly to meet up with us. Corbett and I always walked to school when it was warm out. I didn't quite have my driver's license yet, but I only needed to have my permit one more month. Cassius and I gasped at what we saw.

Corbett had a new scar on his left cheek.

Cassius immediately ran up to Corbett, who put a smile on his face so as not to scare him. "Corbett, what happened?"

He tousled Cassius's short, blonde hair. "I just fell down on that rock path in my backyard. Nothing serious." I could see the pain and anger in his eyes and knew he was lying. If he ever got a new scar or bruise (it wasn't very common) and Cassius noticed, he would always tell him some story of how he got hurt. I was the only one who knew the truth.

Cassius bought his lie and the three of us walked him to school. He asked me a million questions about what his last day would be like. I answered every one of his questions whereas Corbett looked like he was about to turn into the Hulk. Luckily, about that time, we reached the school. I hugged Cassius and he dashed in without a goodbye.

I looked at Corbett. "What really happened?" I whispered as we walked towards our school.

He grit his teeth and growled, his hands turning into fists. "My mom got too drunk last night. Someday I'm just gonna… rrgh!"

I put my hand on his shoulder. "It won't be long before you can leave this town, do all those things you always talked about. Get a house, write novels about the stories I told you as a kid and forget about the past." I said. He had always wanted to write fictional novels about the Leafmen and Boggans, even though he no longer believed they were real.

"Jet, it's still two years away!"

"Well, it could be worse." I know that sounded dumb, but it was all I could think of saying.

"Well, someday I won't be the one being beaten!"

I stopped walking. "What do you mean?"

"It's my dad's fault! He left me knowing what I was going through! Someday… I'll hunt him down!"

"You can't be serious."

"I'm more serious than I've ever been in my life!" he growled.

"You won't do that, I know you won't!"

"How could you know that?"

"Because you're a better person than that!"

Corbett growled. "Jet, you just… don't understand! You have a brother, a mom that cares about you, a dad that didn't abandon you-"

"And you have friends that care about you! Have you forgotten about Cassius and I?"

Corbett was silent for a minute as he ran his fingers through his spiky, blonde hair. "…No. You two are all I've got." The pain was still evident in his eyes, but he forced a smile. I did the same.

I pushed a strand of my red hair out of my eyes and looked at my watch. "Hey, we've got fifteen minutes to get to class. Race you!" We both took off.

**Four hours later-**

Corbett and I were on our toes along with the rest of our biology class. The clock seemed to go slower with every passing second. Even our teacher (who everyone swore hated kids) was watching the clock with anticipation. We were all leaning over our desks when the bell finally rang. We all jumped up and sprinted out the door.

The two of us sprinted through the whole school and all the way out the main door, not caring about the "no running" rule. I was always really fast, so I lived up to the name Jet. Corbett was panting by the time he caught up to me at the end of the school yard.

"I can't believe a girl can outrun me!" he teased.

"Hey, a girl can do whatever a boy can do…" I smiled. "And girls can do it while wearing high heels!"

Corbett smiled. "I'd like to see you run that fast in high heels!"

I rolled my eyes and adjusted my heavy backpack that I was so glad I could ditch for three months. "Let's go get Cassius."

We ran to the elementary school and found Cassius celebrating with his friends. They were all exchanging summer plans. The second he saw Corbett and I though, he said goodbye to his friends and ran over to us. He nearly knocked me down when he hugged me.

"You ready for Junior High?" I asked him.

"I'm more ready for summer vacation!" he nearly shouted.

"Well let's go get started!" Corbett said, giving my little brother a noogie. We all ran back to my house.

I finally reached the porch (I had beaten the boys by a mile) and noticed something green fly away quite swiftly. I squinted to try and see what it was. It didn't look like a bug and it was faster than any bird I'd ever seen. Eventually, it vanished but not before I recognized it as a hummingbird.

I had never seen one before, but by the direction it was heading in, it was heading for the woods where my grandfather Bomba's house was.

When Cassius and Corbett finally reached the porch, I shrugged away the hummingbird and opened the door. We threw our backpacks on the ground and ran into the kitchen to get something to eat. When we reached it, we stopped short. My mother was usually at the kitchen table reading a book or in our office researching something. Today however she _and_ my dad rushed into the kitchen with two suitcases. Dad had a piece of paper crumpled up in his hand.

"Oh you're home." Mom said.

"Yeah, today was a half day remember?" I asked.

"I'm going into Junior High mom!" Cassius announced and hugged our mom. She returned the hug, but she was quick about it. I noticed she looked worried. So did my dad.

"That's great sweetheart." she encouraged.

"Jet, Cassius, your mom and I have to go visit your Grandpa Bomba for a few days. He's sick and we need to take care of him." Dad said. Cassius and I gasped.

"Is he going to be okay?" I asked.

"He'll be fine, he just needs some help." Mom assured, but by the look on her face, I could tell something was seriously wrong.

"Can we come too?" Cassius asked.

"I'm afraid not champ." Dad said. "We need you guys to stay here and take care of things. We called Mrs. Carlson across the street and she's going to look in on you every now and then. Other than that, you guys are going to have to watch yourselves."

Something was definitely very wrong here. Mom and Dad _never_ left us on our own for more than five hours. Why would they suddenly be doing so for more than one day?

"There's a list of emergency numbers by the phone and there's plenty of food in the cabinet and fridge. We love you guys and stay safe." They hugged us tightly and I could tell they were in a hurry. They didn't set any ground rules or anything. They dashed out the door before we had time to say _we love you too._

"I hope Grandpa's okay." Cassius said to me. We rarely got to see our grandpa and when we did,_ he_ came down to visit _us._ Our houses were about an hour away from each other and he lived in a thick forest. Cassius looked at me with tears in his eyes.

I gently hugged him. "He'll be fine." I said. I didn't dare tell him how worried our parents had looked.

"Do you guys want me to stay here for a few days?" Corbett asked.

"Are you sure?" I asked. Corbett nodded. I smiled.

"Sleepover!" Cassius cheered and hugged Corbett, temporarily forgetting his worries. I on the other hand couldn't shake them no matter what I did.

To be continued


	2. A Letter from Ronin

I've heard before that sometimes, you can go to bed with more worries than you can carry in your head, and wake up the next morning with them seeming less important or just plain gone. That wasn't the case when I woke up the next morning. They were still there.

I woke up on the air mattress in my living room. Corbett was still asleep on the couch and Cassius on the rocking chair. Nightmares had awoken me, but they weren't at all what I had expected them to be like. Instead of my grandpa dying and there being a big funeral for him, or even seeing him _at all_, I had seen a war going on between the Leafmen and the Boggans. The battle hadn't matched any of mom and dad's stories. It had gone on for a while and all I could do was watch. I couldn't move no matter how much I tried. My family was fighting in the war too. Dad and Cassius were dressed like Leafmen and my mother was right next to dad. Not only that, I was wearing a long, green gown for some reason. Out of nowhere the battle had suddenly stopped and the Boggans made a path between their mobs for someone who looked like their leader. All the Leafmen had looked at me and I had somehow known _I _had to fight him. Before I was able to see what their leader looked like, I had woken up.

I sat up, stretched and looked at the clock. It wasn't quite seven a.m. yet. It was still early, but I was wide awake anyway. I went into the kitchen and opened the pantry. Mom and Dad had left a lot of options for breakfast. There were a lot of different types of cereals, there was pancake mix, oatmeal mix, bread for toast, even doughnuts! I decided on pancakes, since Corbett had slept over and we all loved them.

After half an hour, I had three plates of hot pancakes. One with blueberry pancakes for Cassius, plain ones for Corbett and chocolate chip pancakes for me. I set the table with the plates, forks, knives, a bottle of syrup, a dish of butter and three glasses of milk.

"Morning, Jet." I heard Cassius say, as I put down the last glass of milk.

"Good morning, Cassius." I replied. He rubbed his eyes and smiled at the sight of the pancakes.

"I thought I smelled pancakes!" He ran to the table and took his place at the chair with the blueberry pancakes. It wasn't long before Corbett came in and took his place as well. We all ate in peace and I could tell the boys were still worried too.

"Thanks for letting me spend the next few nights." Corbett said, breaking the ice.

"No problem." I said. "You're always welcome." Cassius nodded in agreement.

After a few more minutes of silence, I heard the mail truck come to our yard (it was a loud truck.) I got up, took my now empty plates to the sink and ran to the door. Before I could get out, I stopped. There was a crumpled piece of paper on the floor. I know it's a weird reason to stop, but for some reason, I did.

I reached down and picked it up. I recognized it as the paper Dad had been holding. He must have dropped it. At first, it looked like no more than just a crumpled grocery list or something, but as I smoothed it out, I realized more and more that it looked like a letter. I couldn't help but read it.

_M.K. and Nod-_

_We have terrible news to inform you. Our queen was shot and killed by a Boggan just recently. Luckily, she had just chosen an heir just the day before the Boggans attacked. The pod hasn't quite bloomed yet though. We trust you with pods more than anyone else, M.K. and we would love for you to guard it._

_Nod, we would like you to train some new recruits. The Boggans discovered an old prophecy that told them that their new leader will be a Stomper that will come into their world and will battle the new heir to the death. Whoever wins the fight will rule the Boggans and us. Their heir hasn't come yet so that gives us time to prepare. You two aren't required to come, but we could really use your help._

_-Ronin_

"What are you doing, Jet?"

I looked behind me and saw Corbett and Cassius walking towards me. "What's that?" Cassius asked.

I looked at the paper. It had to be some kind of joke! Leafmen, Boggans, those things didn't exsist! But who had the letter come from? I had seen my mom and dad write things before and this didn't look like their handwriting. Then I recalled my grandpa had always told us stories about the Leafmen and Boggans too. Did _he_ write this? No the letter said it was from someone named Ronin.

I handed the letter to Corbett. "I'll be right back." I said and ran to find a phone.

When I reached it, I quickly dialed my Mom's number. After several rings, her answering machine took her place. I hung up and tried calling my Dad, only to hear his answering machine too.

"Jet, what is this?" Corbett asked, walking into the kitchen, holding the letter.

"What does it say?" Cassius pestered him.

"I'm trying to find that out for myself, but neither Mom nor Dad will pick up the phone." I replied.

"Why don't you try calling your grandpa?" Corbett asked.

"Why are you calling Mom and Dad?" Cassius asked. I could tell he was getting frustrated but I paid no attention to it as I dialed Grandpa Bomba's number.

"Hello?" someone asked after four rings.

"Grandpa?"

"Oh, hello Jet! How are you?"

Something was wrong. Normally people sound weak when they're sick. My grandpa sounded completely fine!

"I'm fine. I'm just wondering how you're feeling."

"Oh I'm feeling great!"

I paused for a moment. "You're not sick?"

I could practically hear his confusion. "No, who told you that?"

"Oh, I just… thought I heard mom tell dad you were and… I just wanted to be sure you were okay."

"Well, you must have heard wrong because I'm perfectly fine!"

"Ok, that's a relief…" I lied. "I have to go, bye!" I hung up quickly, not waiting for his response.

"What's going on?!" Cassius practically shouted.

I looked at Cassius. "Hey champ, you remember those stories Mom and Dad used to tell us about the Leafmen and the Boggans?"

He cocked his head to the side. "Yeah why?"

"Do you remember where they took place?"

"It was in a place called Moonhaven." I could tell he was still confused.

"Well, where was that?"

Cassius thought for a minute. "I think it was in the forest where grandpa lives."

"Jet, what are you saying?" Corbett asked.

"I don't know, but I remember Dad was carrying this piece of paper yesterday. My grandpa's not sick so they lied about where they're going. Something in my heart is telling me we need to go to the forest."

Corbett looked at me like I was insane. Cassius on the other hand looked like he was going to snap. I sighed, took the letter from Corbett and gave it to him. He read it and got an excited look on his face.

"I knew they were real! I knew it!" he cheered, jumping up and down.

Corbett dragged me to the side. "This is crazy! You know they don't exist!" he whispered.

I nodded. "I know, but until we know where mom and dad are for real, we need to trust this letter."

I turned to Cassius. "Cassius, get dressed. Corbett, pack a couple lunches and also get dressed."

Cassius immediately did what he was told. I could tell Corbett still thought I was crazy, but did as he was told too. I quickly got dressed in an orange shirt with red stripes and jeans. I put my hair in its usual ponytail with two short strands still hanging at the sides of my face.

I met the boys in the living room. Corbett had three lunches and was wearing jeans and a blue t-shirt and Cassius was wearing his favorite overalls with a white shirt underneath. He had a small, brown bag on his shoulder. I grabbed the house key and my cell phone. Corbett had already called a taxi and it was waiting outside for us when we went out the door, locking it behind us.

To be continued


End file.
